Monday, February 4, 2013

Overcoming Adversity Blogfest, Ninja News, and My Next Blogfest!

Overcoming Adversity Blogfest

Nick at Scattergun Scribblings is hosting the Overcoming Adversity Blogfest. Entries will be compiled into a book and the proceeds will go to funding college for his son, Andrew, who has cerebral palsy.

This is my entry.

My Friends, My Heroes

The human spirit it an amazing thing. It can overcome any adversity. Those who succeed despite their situation motivate and assure us that we can triumph as well. And I don’t have to look any farther for inspiration than my blogger buddies.

Roland Yeomans almost lost everything during Rita. He’d already lost two beloved pets and everything he owned due to a fire several years before that. When Katrina hit, he took his laptop, clothes, and cat Gypsy and fled town, returning several months later to a water-damaged apartment. Once again, he had to start over. But Roland has not let that dampen his dream. He now has over twenty books to his name, and he continues to post advice on his blog to help other writers. Roland has not lost faith.

Hart Johnson experienced a really bad 2012 with many setbacks including her husband’s hospitalization. Despite the struggles, she has forged on. Her first book was released last June and this year her second book, The Begonia Bribe, will be released. But that’s not all! Hart entered the ABNA this year, plans to polish several more novels, and will participate in both BuNo and NaNo. Hart is all or nothing.

Jeremy Hawkins was in a terrible car accident several years ago. It permanently misaligned four of his neck bones and he went through months of physical therapy. Even now, cold weather and other factors will dislodge his neck bones, and he is restricted in what he can do. Despite all of that, Jeremy continues to post for Howlin’ Wolf Records and does freelance artwork for clients. He’s published two books and contributes every day to the A to Z Team. And he never complains. Jeremy takes away all excuses.

Karen Walker underwent emotional and sexual abuse as a child. Her self-image took quite a hit and she made some poor life choices as a result. Living with those choices, one of which involved estrangement from her only son for many years, was devastating. But Karen didn’t give up. She began working on her memoir, Following the Whispers, and found her peace. Today she dances, sings, and travels with her wonderful husband. She still struggles, but she fights back.

Charles Gramlich’s’wife Lana was diagnosed with cancer last year and underwent extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. At one point, she was so miserable it was as if they both just wanted to die. They persevered though, and eventually Lana recovered her strength. In November, they received the word that Lana was cancer-free. Through all of this, Charles has continued to work and write. And he is blessed that his wife is there to watch him do it. They are both incredibly tough.

My own struggles seem so small in comparison. But no matter what the challenge, I know I can overcome because they overcame. Thank you for not giving up, my friends. You are my heroes.

(And there were so many more I could’ve mentioned, but I ran out of room!)

Ninja News

The Indelibles
are hosting the INDIE-Kissing Blogfest on February 14. See their site for details.

EJ Wesley’s blog tour begins today!
There will be giveaways and free books, so check it out.
Have a great tour, EJ!

My Next Blogfest!

The first blogfest I ever hosted was The Movie Dirty Dozen on June 21, 2010, and fifty-eight people participated. I had less than two hundred followers at the time, so most of you missed it. Which is why I’ve decided to revisit it with:

Top Ten Movie Countdown Blogfest

March 18, 2013

List your top ten favorite movies!

Told you this one would be fun and easy! Now, who’s with me? Grab the badge and sign up below.

Who’s overcome adversity in your world? Give that person a shout-out here! Joining the Indelibles’ blogfest? Ready to list your favorite movies? Don't forget the IWSG on Wednesday. And did you watch the Super Bowl? Best commercial was…? (Outside of movie previews, I only counted three good ones.)

Wow, those are some amazing stories and bloggers Alex. Thank you for sharing them with us. And your new blogfest looks like a heap of fun. Think I might even get on board with this one, and I almost never dare to try blogfests!

Those are some very inspiring people you mentioned for the blog hop. I too have some very inspiring friends, and sometimes I just don't understand how they COULD have survived. Their stories of survival strike awe into my heart.

This is an amazing group of people outside in the world... the strength comes from people like you and Nick... finding great reasons to move forward. I feel we all struggle, we all have that thing... we also have great support, some from miles away and people we my not ever met.

My brother and his family as his oldest son Alex struggled with an ailing disease for his whole life. Not meant to live past 10 years old, he pushed and survived until 21... and he will be remembered as our superman. Sorry really short version... makes me sad to think about it...

I say "PEACE" to those who need it and "STRENGTH" to those who need it and "HOPE" for those who need it... and those who don't save it for later when you might.

It's inspiring to hear your friend's stories. Actually my family went through a really difficult time. My husband who has chronic lung problems fell outside our hotel room in San Antonio about 5 years ago and broke his hip replacement, femur, and severed a nerve to his hand. He almost died and came home in a wheelchair. We knew no one there but luckily my father in law was with us and took my daughter home with him. My daughter who had just finished 5th grade had to give up her summer when we got back to take care of my husband so I could go back to work. Thankfully my husband is now walking and his nerve grew back. That was definitely an experience I never want to repeat.

Alex, thank you so much for your inspiring contribution to my blogfest. It certainly puts things into perspective. We are blessed that Andrew is happy and healthy, as many of his peers suffer from health complications and some have sadly passed away.

And I will sign up for your movie blogfest. It won't be that easy for me - I really struggle picking faves - but having ten is probably easier than narrowing it down to just one!

Alex, thank you so much for this loving tribute to your blogging buddies, including me. Learning to overcome adversity is a lifelong lesson, one I continue to work on. You, my dear friend, inspire me to keep trying with your positive attitude and your way of helping everyone else with your blog. Karen

Thank you for sharing these amazing stories of triumph!Congratulations to these bloggers... you are an inspiration to all!

Top Ten Movie Countdown fest? I think I have about 3 favourite movies... well, I have about six weeks to watch extra movies and maybe I'll find 7 more to add to the list... LOL. I suppose, if I think hard enough, there are other movies that have made an impression on me... let me put on my thinking cap...

A great post, Alex, and as I'm reading the adversity of others I think much the same thing as yourself. Others have had it so much worse than I have by comparison. That's the real adversity. I've only had minor setbacks.

We lost the 'signal' near the end of the 3rd quarter of the SB (just when the game was starting to get good-life in the islands) BUT of the commercials I did see I was almost on the floor over the tough guys playing dress-up with the little girl, while eating Doritos. And what's not to love about baby horses.

Loved your entry Alex. So many of our blogging friends have faced challenges that I'm not sure I'd have the strength to overcome. They're an inspiration, and keep me from having pity parties on a regular basis.

I overcame adversity of being Epiletic(it still has a stigma attached to the illness) by saying on being diagnosed back in the 80s "Epilepsy is going to live with ME, And not me with IT" otherwise I would have not travelled, not seen Daniel, but sit around and wait for the next seizure.Great post as usual and the CHROME problem has now been sorted.

Stories like that are a great reminder why I should, one, never feel sorry for myself, and two, never give when adversity gets me down. I have a friend who's contended with adversity for over 30 years, yets he's always cheery & upbeat. I don't know how he does it. Anyway, I signed up for your blogfest. I love movies, but I'm not so good at recalling the ones I love best. Thanks for the reminder. I had forgotten it was IWSG time. As far as commercials go, I watched the game at a sports bar so I didn't pay much attention to the commercials, but that Taco Bell one was hilarious.

TOP 10 of All-Time? Committed to paper permanently???? I don't know, Alex. This is serious.

I didn't see all of the Superbowl commercials, but I did see one pre-Superbowl on Yahoo. My mom was watching them on her computer. She calls me in so I could watch it. It made me cry. So, I think that was probably the best one. Not many commercials make me cry. Movies? Yes. TV shows? Depends on the show. Commercials? Very rare. I will unveil it on my HERE'S TO YOU post... so I won't make you wait forever.

Thanks for the updates. :) Looking forward to reading EJ's books and following the tour. The movie blogfest sounds fun- might have to add to calendar... I'm loving all the stories for Nick's blogfest. I agree with Michael- what an amazing community so full of wonderful inspiration and support. Love it :)

I know this will sound odd, but I sometimes think we are given adversity in our lives to help and inspire others. I know that's how I feel when I read things like this and it makes my own problems seem a bit less problematic.

I'm totally in for your blogfest...anything to do with movies always gets my attention. Should be fun :)

Roland's story and the others you mentioned show that many of us deal with strife and adversity every day. My elder daughter has to deal with a chronic illness which can be debilitating, and comes without warning. We deal with it when we have to.

Excellent, inspiring post and I love that you used the blogfest as an opportunity to praise some blogging pals who have overcome such tough times!! Everyone you listed is definitely an inspiration.

And...I have to touch on the commercial question. haha. I LOVED the Clydesdale commercial. By far my favorite one. It actually choked me up. haha. Little embarrassing, crying over a commercial, but it was SO cute!!

I told Husband Unit my favorite commercial was the Calvin Klein one. He rolled his eyes. lol But I had just finished a discussion I started on man boobs. So I'm thinking he might not want to watch football with me anymore.

I'm so in for your Top Ten Movie Blogfest! I love the theme! It's right up my alley. Now the hard part is compiling the list - oh man, it's gonna be tough because I see movies in theatres and on DVD constantly. But I know for sure Titanic will be on there :D

I love your blogfests, Alex! I mean yours are the BEST of the BEST! But that's what the Ninja Captain does perfect! And it's an honor to co-host the A to Z Challenge alongside you - I don't know if I can top you ;)

And you have an excellent entry for the Overcoming Adversity blogfest! I love how it's short and sweet. Those are the best!

Love your adversity post, and how you continually highlight and encourage others! I have a number of real life heroes and heroines in my life - it's hard to choose just one.Best movies ever? It's going to be tough to pick just ten. See you on IWSG!

That's very cool how you highlighted some folks who have overcame real adversity. I was really impressed with Stina Lindenblatt's post about living in the NICU with her firstborn. Talk about living a nightmare and coming out on top. Very inspiring! I'm totally going to check out the indelibles hop for some Valentine's day fun.

I will be posting my entry for Nick's blogfest tomorrow. Man those are some adversity snippets you laid out there. How heartbreaking.

I love the movie idea again! Can you believe I reread my entry from the Dirty Dozen again about 4 days ago! And I'm going to see Top Gun in IMAX 3-D nest week. They are only showing it for 7 days so I have to see it!

I know so many who have overcome adversity, including myself, my husband, my mom, and so many family members. I'm having trouble figuring out who to write about (definitely not myself), but am leaning toward my father-in-law. I think it would be a nice tribute to him. Yeah, I think I've decided. :)

Wow, I had no idea these fellow bloggers has overcome so much. Very inspiring!

Love the idea for your next fest. I didn't really care for any of the Super Bowl ads, none stood out to me. Exciting second half though! I really wanted the Niners to pull off the comeback but oh well.

My hero would be my mom. She suffered with paranoid schizophrenia most of her life, never knowing for sure if the things she saw, heard, felt, etc. were real or the product of her illness. Still, she managed to raise two children who are absolutely sure of her steadfast love.

Hey Alex! I wonder if you could do me a favor...I'm currently in the process of transferring my blog to my own domain, and will hopefully be over there by the time the two blogfests I joined take place.

I'm actually doing the A to Z! Didn't think I'd have time, but I've chosen a good theme that will make for relatively short and sweet posts. Also, doing the movie one.

Anyhoo...I put my new domain url on both the linky lists, but it only sends them to the static "Welcome" page. I should have used the "Blog" permalink:

mlswift.me/blog/

Do you think you could fix them for me? All you have to do is add "/blog/" to the current link.

I'm still at blogger for the time being, and will make a announcement when I officially "move," and hope everyone will follow.

In the middle of organizing and scheduling my top ten list...at the last minute! However, I'm running out of battery juice and internet access, so it looks like I'll have it up sometime tomorrow morning between 10:00am and 1:00pm EST depending on where I can use a computer.

About Me

I'm a sci-fi writer on a journey of discovery - books, movies, music, etc.
Founder of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, I'm the author of Amazon Best Sellers CassaStar, CassaFire, CassaStorm, & Dragon of the Stars